Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

The Syracuse Post Standard reports that the top 5 cell phone carriers in the U.S. receive a total of 1.3 million requests from law enforcement agencies for personal and location data. Cell phones have built in GPS tracking devices that record the cell phone’s whereabouts. Police use of cell phone data is now widespread, even among small, local police departments.

What the Post Standard article does not say is that New York car accident lawyers like me also use cell phone data in our cases. Here’s how:

Say I have a car accident case where the defendant driver, at deposition, tells me he was not at all distracted when he entered an intersection against a stop sign and collided into my client’s car. Let’s say he claims my client “came out of nowhere” and therefore “must have been speeding”. My next question? “Sir, do you have a cell phone” (answer: yes). My next question: “were you using it at the time of the collision or just before the collision” (Answer: “no”). Next questions, “what carrier do you use”, and “what is the phone number”.

Last week in Auburn, NY, on Lake Avenue, not too far from the New York personal injury and auto accident law firm of Michaels Bersani Kalabanka, P.C., a 24-year old driver had a seizure and crashed his car into a house porch. No one, except the driver, was injured, but what if they were? What if someone was on the porch and got hurt? Could that person sue the driver for the injuries?

You might think, “gee, it wasn’t really the kid’s fault that he had a seizure, so how can you blame him”? You might be right. Or not.

All 50 states require drivers with a seizure history to report this in their application for a driver’s license or license renewal. All 50 states deny drivers’ licenses to those who suffer frequent seizures that cannot be controlled by medication. All 50 states have rules regarding when and how a license may be acquired for those with seizures that can be controlled by medication.

Having trouble finding a New Year’s resolution? Let me help. Forget about losing weight. Been there done that — or not!. That commitment usually lasts for only a few weeks. Here’s one you might be able to stick with, and that could save your life:

Promise yourself that, beginning January 1, you’ll start throwing your smart phone or cell phone in the TRUNK of your car whenever you drive. Don’t just commit to not using your smart or cell phone — as long as it’s sitting next to you and on, you will. If you don’t believe me, and think you can resist the temptation of answering the phone while you are driving, or of sneaking a peak at an incoming email or text message when you hear that little “beep” , take a look at this New York Times article, titled “U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers“. The article cites to several well-researched studies proving that smart phones and cell phones are every bit as addictive — and as dangerous to your health when you drive with them — as cigarettes.

Why can’t you resist the urge to answer, or to check that text message? Because you have a well-rooted, natural human urge to interact with other humans, especially when you are isolated and deprived of their company – as when you are alone behind the wheel.

Yesterday, about one hundred tow-truck drivers formed a procession on East Molloy Road in Mattydale during the funeral of their brother tow-trucker, Todd Young, who was killed when a tractor trailer careened into him as he was attending to a broken down vehicle on the shoulder of the Thruway in Manlius, a mile east of Interstate 481. The fellow tow-truck drivers were thinking, no doubt, “but for the grace of god, there go I”. All of them, if they have been in the business for any significant amount of time, have had “close calls”; vehicles speeding by within feet, or even inches, of them as they dutifully attend to motorists in need on the shoulder of New York’s Thruway and other highways.

And that’s why a new law in New York, which takes effect January 1st, 2012, requires motorists to slow down and move over for “hazard vehicles”, which includes tow trucks. The law, called the Ambrose-Searles Move-Over Act, as it is currently written (read my prior blog) applies only to “emergency vehicles”, such as police cars. But the amended law will cover “hazard vehicles”, too, including tow trucks. Violators face fines of up to $150 for the first offense, $300 for a second offense and $450 for a third offense.

So, fellow motorist, join this Central NY car accident lawyer in my pledge to slow down, move over, and . . .